Label applying machine



June 9, 1953 N. A. ZANDER LABEL APPLYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 27, 1950 June 9, 1953 N. A. ZANDER LABEL APPLYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 27, 1950 Patented June 9, 1953 UNITED sis PATENT" ATPLYING? Nilsw zander, Stow; Masai Application October 27, IBBULSeriaI'NO. 1925395 d'iclai'mss (Cl. 216 -423)" This invention relates to' mechanism for'app'lw ingglabels automatically to a: succession of articles orpackages" such as; ior'example;,, jugs" and bot tl'es, It is anobiect'orfthe invention to='providei a mechanism which is: simpIe but effective and which can be constructedat'a; comparativelydow cost: Ashereiiiafterdescrified, th -s; invention is embodied in" a mechanism whichincindes-ahurl-L- zontai' conveyor 'liy'which' the articles to' be iab' eled are carriedalongttowardtlie-label apnIying-mech; anism'; A" barrier is providewoverthe. conveyor which" operates in" conjunction with an escape-- m'ent device to pass: the jugs" along to the lahei' applying" mechanismin: a' predetermined spaced relation sothat'th'erewiil nnt loe interfcren'cewitii' the operation ofthe l'a fiefapplyihg mechanismby jugs wh'i'ch' arrive*tooclbselytogether. O'th'er ad vantageous 'features'willbe"apparentfromtiie dc"- tai'l'e'd description of" an embodiment of the imvention which is" illustrated on" the drawings of' which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of" apparatus en'rhodying the invention;

Figure-2 is a planvi'ewof the same;

Figure 2b; is a f'ragmentary' perspective" view showing the shaft IZIi'and relatedparts;

Figure-3 i's-a section on the- 1ine'3 -3 o'f Fig ure' 1;

Figuree-is a; plan view similar to Fig'urefi'biit showing parts in a different position of operation:

Figure a section-on the '1ine"5-'-5" of Figure 4; and

Figurefiis-a fragmentaryplan-view; on a largerscale; showing a portion" of the mechanism:

The machine illustrated onthe drawings in='- cludes amain' frame I'D which carries a horizontai belt conveyor I2; theupper stretch: ofwiiich" is supported by a series of roliers H so that it advances inan horizontal plane, thedirection of movement of the upper stretch being from left to rightas illustrated in figuresd 2.- the following description of? the mechanism ;2 jugs will be referred to as tii'e articles to be labeledi but it is to be understood that other articles can be labeled bythemechani'sm hereinafter (IF- scrihe'd:

J ugswhich are p laced on the left-hand end o'f the conveyor l2 area'd'vanccd toward thel'abel' applying mechanism untilthey- 'encounter"a barrier lfi whicli is an armextending across the conveyor. This barrier hoids the leading jug temporarily out of contact with an esea'pemenii mechanism which comprises a'v horizontal dislii having: one? 01*! more recesses; 22f il'lllitsfi margin; thes'e: recesses; being 01% sufficient size to receive? a jug W as shown. The disk 20 is driven by suitable means hereihflftfdsCfiBEfi so" as 'to re'volire in" a counterclockwise? directionat a constant speed? TIiebamer" I6 iSiplVOte'CFitt on'eend- 'afs at 24 andi's normaliyiheld in the position in Figures 2" and 3"b walatchrmemlienZ6 which Hooks-over a shouiden 2' 8" ofl ai Huh towhich the barrier [6 is? secured.- latch ZB is' pivotedas at so; the opposite end of the? latch member Being pressed against a huli 3-2 wiiicif-carfistfie disk" 28: Mounted" on tkiediuh $2 arewamflugs 38 which strike th 'e" late-hi member 26 When disk 20F reaches predetermiiied angular' positions its- 'rotationi Each timeae lug? strikes'stlie latch 26 ',"thebarrier"wis releasedi so thatit ami pushed tcward therighnby tiie pressureofthei j'ug? W their engaging it. This jug th' en engages against the ed ge -of' t1ie'di'sl ZOJuIItiFt-He n'ext re.- cess='2"2 comes around: whereupon the jug enters such recess" and permitted tb advance" along trie conveyor? N spring 36* is attache?? to the barrier lfi 'to retum it t'o its normaB-po'sitiowas on anequivaient througkr which liquid may seep: The lii uidi wIi-ichr may 15"'Wa17l"' or arr-adhesive oompositiom is suppliedT'tothe containerthrcugh asuitabie =hoseconnection. M. Thecontaiitnei MI is pivoted a t one of its verticai edges asat" M te g;r-- gu.ide rail W Wh-fch? extends along one side of the conveyor; aaoorrespcndingguiderair 59' being mounted? at themppositeside" of" the: conveyor. Tlie' container 411 normalli projects out overftiie conveyor f2 "as" indicatedin Figures 2 and sand is: resilientlymaintained in? such position. a; suitable? spring," 52* so that it is encountered" by each]. .iug; which; is; adva'incecii'byi the. disk 2'01 A; reinforcingi leaflspringi 5n isprovid'edv'toi ofier additional yielding? resistance to theswing oizthe container 40: as it iss pushed aside byen i advancing.- jug.

After the jug W- haspassed the? liquidwappiying device: 40; itenoountersa rimming?belt,- 60: This drivingrbelt mayi be a single belt. on w multiple bei1;,.- the latter-being illustrated oni-therdrawinga In Figure: 5,founbe1ts 60ame shown, theserbeing' spaced one above the other and being carried by tending to press the free end of the auxiliary frame 64 toward the opposite side of the conveyor. When a jug W passes beyond the liquid applying device 40, it engages the driving belt 60, this belt being driven at twice the linear speed of the conveyor I2. The belt pressesthe. jug against the...

guide rail 50 which at this point is provided with a friction surface M. the belt 60', together with the retarding effect of the friction surface 14 causes the jug to rotate at a predetermined angular speed'as it travels past the driving belt so that it rolls along the face of the label without substantial tendency for slippage. The belt and its frame are swung back to the position shown in Figure 4 as the jug passes it, whereupon the spring I2 returns the driving belt and its supporting frame to their normal position extending diagonally across the conveyor as illustrated in Figure 2. Since the toggle joints of the frame 10 may pass beyond centers when they reach the position shown in Figure 4, in which case the spring I2 would not be able to function to return the toggle frame to the position shown in Figure 2, anauxiliary leaf spring I6 is mounted in position to be engaged by the toggle links, as indicated in Figure 4, so that when the driving belt andits frame are released by the passing of a jug, the spring I6 gives the frame an initial kick toward its normal position. On the side ofthe conveyor opposite to the driving belt 60 is mounted a label magazine 80 which, as shown in Figures 2, 4 and 5, may consist of a rectangular box having a bottom 82, walls on three sides with an open side facing the conveyor, and a hinged top cover 84. A supply of labels 8B are inserted in the box and are pressed toward the open side by a plate 88 backed by a spring v90 which surrounds a guide rod 92 attached to the plate and projecting through an aperture in a The driving movement of,

leaf spring 94 which is secured within the box 1 and is inclined with respect to the axis of the rod 92. The spring 90 is a relatively weak spring and is compressed between the plate 88 and the leaf spring 94 so that the labels are constantly pushed forward by a weak force. If, however, the labels are pushed bythe jug in the opposite direction, such retrograde movement is more stiffiy opposed by the rod 92 binding in the opening through the spring 94. The label are retained in the box by a pair of fixed lugs 96 attached to an edge of the open side of the box so as to'jut out a short distance into the opening of the open side. At the opposite edge of the opening a pair of vertically spaced, movable'fingers 98 extend out to engage theadjacentmargin of the outermost label, th lower finger being shown in Figure 1. The fingers 98 are automatically retracted just before a jug reaches the magazine to engage the outermost label therein and I04. The same pivot carries a link I06 which extends to a rod I08. Th rod is slidable in a direction at right angles to the conveyor I2 and carries a friction pad I I0 at one end thereof, this pad being held over the conveyor near the edge thereof. When the pad 0 is engaged by a jug W, the rod I08 is pushed back thu rocking the link I06 and the arms I02 so as to retract the fingers 98 from the opening in the side of the label magazine 80, the-retracted position of the finger 98 being illustrated in Figure 4. When the jug has moved along far enough to start the removal of the outermost label from the magazine, the release of the pad I I0 permits the fingers 98 to be moved back to their normal position by a spring which ismounted on the pivot I04 like the spring .52 on the pivot 49 but does not appear on the drawings. A spring II2 on each finger 98 is arranged'to press a side of each finger against a corresponding pin II3 which is mounted on a bracket fastened to the side of the box. A the fingers 98 move from one position to the other, an edge of each finger slides along the corresponding pin H3 so as to cause the tip of each finger to move clear of the edge of the box as it returns to its holding position.

When a jug arrives at the label magazine, it hasbeen sufiiciently rotated to present the moistened area on its side to the outermost label in the magazine. If the label in the magazine are gummed, water may be the liquid applied to the sides of the jugs. For ungummed labels, a suitable liquid adhesive must be applied to the jugs. As the jug is pressed against the label magazine and rotated in passing, it progressively engages and sticks to the outermost label and removes it from the magazine. When the jug rolls past th free end of the frame which carries the driving belt the frame is then released from the position shown in Figure 4 and is moved by the springs 16 and 12 back to its normal position across the conveyor. A wiper plate H4 is mountedon one of the links of the toggle frame III in such a position as to engage the departing jug as the frame 64 is swung back to its normal position as shown in Figure 6. This tends to press the label more securely against the side wall of the jug and to wipe out any wrinkle which may have been formed when the label was picked up from the magazine.

In order to support the outermost labels in the supply in the magazine so as to prevent their slipping down on the. conveyor, a thin supporting element I20 is pivotally mounted in a shallow recess in the bottom 82 of the box 80. This supporting member may have an arcuate shape or up a label, as shown in Figure 4, advances to are automatically returned to their label engagengage the projecting end of the supporting element I20, this projecting end is pushed in by the jugwith the-result that the other end is pushed out and thus acts-as a support to prevent the outermost labels from slipping down onto the conveyor. When the next jug comes along, it engages this projecting end and pushes it in, this having the effect of pushing the other end out so that one end or the other of the supporting element I20 is always effective in holding up the outermost labels in'the supply.

The various moving parts of the apparatus are driven in timed relation by any suitable driving means. As shown, a pulley I22 is mounted on the same shaft with the roller 14 at the delivery end of the conveyor l2. On the pulley I22 is a belt 124 which passes around a pulley I 25 mounted on a vertical shaft E28 to which are fixed one set of pulleys 62 (Figure 3). This vertical shaft carries a pinion I30 which meshes with a gear wheel 132, the latter being on a common shaft with a sprocket wheel $3 1 which drives a larger sprocket wheel 36 by means of a chain 138. The Wheel 5315 is mounted on the shaft 32 and drives the escapement disk 20.

I claim:

1. In a labeling machine, a horizontal conveyor, a frame pivoted at one end beside said conveyor to swing from a position alongside the conveyor to a position diagonally across the conveyor, pulleys carried by said frame at the pivoted and free ends thereof, an endless driving belt passing about said pulleys, means for driving said con-- veyor and for driving said belt at twice the linear speed of the conveyor, means resiliently pressing said frame toward its diagonal position, and a label magazine mounted at the side of the conveyor across from said driving belt, said magazine including means for supporting labels in position to be successively engaged by objects carried by the conveyor and pressed toward the magazine by said driving belt.

2. In a labeling machine, a horizontal conveyor, a label magazine mounted at one side of the conveyor, a driving belt mounted at the other side of the conveyor and opposite the label magazine, a frame carrying said belt and swingable about a vertical axis, means pivotally supporting one end of said frame, means resiliently tending to swing said frame and driving belt from a position alongside the conveyor to a position diagonally across said conveyor, means for driving said conveyor and for driving said belt at twice the linear speed of the conveyor, and means engageable by each article before it reaches the magazine to apply liquid to a portion of the surface of the article.

3. In a labeling machine, a horizontal conveyor, a label magazine mounted at one side of the conveyor to present a supply of labels to cylindrical 6 articles carried past by the conveyor, frictional surfaces along the same side of the conveyor engageable by said articles immediately before and'after passing the magazine, a driving belt supported on the opposite side of the conveyor and having a stretch moving in the same general direction as the conveyor and at twice the linear speed, means resiliently actuating said driving belt to press passing articles against said frictional surfaces and magazine whereby said articles are caused to rotate as they pass, and means mounted adjacent to the conveyor in advance of the magazine for applying liquid to a surface area of each article as it approaches the magazine.

4. In a labeling machine, a base, a horizontal conveyor movable along said base, a frame pivoted to said base at one end beside said conveyor to swing between a position along said conveyor to a position diagonally across the conveyor, a label magazine mounted at one side of said conveyor, an endless belt carried by said frame and presenting a stretch opposite to said magazine, toggle links connected to said frame spaced from the pivot of said frame and to said base, a spring secured to said toggle links and tending to hold said links in position with said frame in diagonal position, means for driving said belt and moving said stretch at twice the speed of said conveyor, and means for presenting articles to be labeled on said conveyor to be passed between said magazine and belt and to roll along said magazine by the contact with said belt thereagainst.

NILS A. ZANDER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,681,413 Kronqvist Aug. 21, 1928 1,716,445 Johnson et al June 11, 1929 1,771,652 Novick July 29, 1930 1,804,610 Halvorsen May 21, 1931 2,224,098 Burke et al Dec. 3, 1940 2,354,688 Kimball Aug. 1, 1944 2,467,679 Lyon Apr. 19, 1949 2,517,395 Lewis Aug. 1, 1950 

